Every Falling Star: The True Story of How I Survived and Escaped North Korea

Every Falling Star, the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is Sungju Lee’s intense memoir about being forced at age 12 to live on the streets and fend for himself. The book is a first-person account of what it is like to be born and raised in a terrifying environment, depicting Sungju’s experiences of creating a gang, living through thieving, fighting, and surviving on cargo trains. It includes a brief history of modern North Korea and details the danger and desperation he endured after being abandoned by his parents.